Rangers travelled to the Tony Macaroni Arena to clash heads with Livingston in the Scottish League Cup earlier tonight hoping to get a win on the road. Steven Gerrard’s men saw more of the ball in the first half and scored a fortunate opening goal when Glen Kamara found the back of the net with his deflected attempt.
The home side refused to give up without a fight and created some decent chances to score just after the half-time break. However, they were woeful with their finishing in the final third, which gave the Glaswegian side enough incentive to sit back and soak in the pressure.
Both teams fought tooth and nail but couldn’t add to the goal tally as the match finished 1-0 in favour of the Light Blues.
Let’s take a look at how each Rangers player performed during the match against Livingston.
GK: Allan McGregor – 6/10
The Rangers goalkeeper was not tested during the game as the Livingston attackers did not have their shooting boots on tonight. He did his job when called into action and kept a comfortable clean sheet at the back.
RB: James Tavernier – 6/10
He gave away a couple of cheap fouls during the game. However, to his credit, Tavernier was a decent outlet for the visiting side down the right flank.
CB: Connor Goldson – 5/10
The English centre-back struggled to cope with the threat of the Livingston attackers and was lucky not to concede on the night.
CB: Filip Helander – 5/10
He should have received a red card for his mistimed challenge on Lyndon Dykes in the first half. Helander looked nervy when defending inside his own half and was fortunate to keep a clean sheet.
LB: Borna Barisic – 6/10
The Croat was defensively solid but lacked the cutting edge going forward.
CM: Glen Kamara – 7/10
Kamara was fortunate to score the opener in the 5th minute when his goal-bound attempt was deflected into the back of the Livingston net. He got substituted in the second half.
CM: Ryan Jack – 7/10
The Scottish midfield ace worked his socks off for his side as he put in a commanding display at the heart of Gerrard’s midfield.
CM: Joe Aribo – 6/10
The Nigerian prospect suffered a nasty head injury which forced him to come off the pitch midway into the first half.
LW: Sheyi Ojo – 5.5/10
The home team struggled to cope with Ojo’s blistering pace on the counter. The talented winger got two excellent one on one opportunities to score early in the second half but was denied by the Livingston keeper on both occasions.
ST: Alfredo Morelos – 8/10
He held the ball up and linked up play well with Ojo and Arfield. The Colombian forward ran into the space behind the Livington defence and caused a lot of headaches for Gary Holt’s defenders.
RW: Scott Arfield – 7/10
Arfield put in a tireless shift down the wide areas and got a couple of decent opportunities to get his name on the scoresheet. However, he couldn’t find the finishing touch in front of the Livingston goal.
Substitutes:
CM: Steven Davis – 7/10
He put in a tireless shift in midfield and provided adequate cover for the Rangers backline after coming on in the first half to replace the injured Aribo.
CM: Andy King – 6/10
He came off the bench for the final 20 minutes to see out the victory for the visitors.
